Once a cultivator forms a Nascent Soul, they have truly cast off their mortal shell and transcended the mundane. So long as their very foundation is not damaged, and they receive treatment in time, it is almost impossible for them to die.
Bao Gu’s body was strong to begin with, and priceless treasures—ten-thousand-year spirit herbs, ninth-rank sacred medicine—were being used on her as if they cost nothing. Her wounds closed up at a speed visible to the naked eye even without the aid of spiritual power. With her actively circulating her cultivation technique to heal, her injuries recovered astonishingly fast.
Once the divine physician saw that Bao Gu could treat herself, he quietly withdrew.
Before long, the wounds on Bao Gu’s body had completely healed. Even the bite mark over her heart left by Ba had vanished. Only the ruined magic treasures hanging off her and her tattered robes bore witness to the peril she had just gone through.
She had the maids in the Left Envoy’s residence prepare bath water. Soaking in the wooden tub, eyes closed, she slowly sorted through her thoughts.
Her senior sister was already in danger. Ba’s strength was terrifying, almost unmatched in this world. She couldn’t afford to panic, and she absolutely could not charge in recklessly like before. If she did, she wouldn’t only fail to save Yu Mi—she would throw her own life away as well.
Once she’d calmed down, Bao Gu rose from the tub, changed into a clean, neat set of clothes, and headed to the main hall of the Left Envoy’s residence.
Wang Ding, Zi Tianjun, and a large group of people Bao Gu did and did not recognize were all present. She swept her gaze over them. From their clothing, she recognized some as the hall masters of various halls under the Kan Gang; the others were advisers of the Left Envoy’s residence.
Bao Gu bowed to Zi Tianjun.
“Grandmaster.”
Zi Tianjun lifted his hand slightly.
“No need for formalities. Your injuries—are you all right?”
Bao Gu said, “I want to know whether my senior sister is alive or dead. I want to know where she is. Grandmaster, you must have already checked her soul-lamp.”
Zi Tianjun said, “Yu Mi carries an immortal treasure from the Upper Realm, gifted by the Ancestral Grandmaster to protect her. Ba can’t truly harm her. For the time being, her life is not in danger.
“She is trapped in a place piled high with bones. There is a restrictive formation there that blocks the heavenly secrets. It’s extremely difficult to determine the exact location.”
After speaking, his face darkened suddenly.
“I know you’re worried about Yu Mi, but recklessly rushing over like that was far too impulsive! Do you know how many of our fellow cultivators died just to cover your retreat?”
Bao Gu asked, “Since you knew how dangerous the Archaic Mountain Range is, why did you send my senior sister there without telling me? Grandmaster, I’m not allowed to take risks, but my senior sister is?”
Being questioned in public by Bao Gu made Zi Tianjun lose face. His voice sank.
“I will be the one to decide this matter.”
Bao Gu also had no wish to openly argue with Zi Tianjun in front of the Kan Gang people. He was, after all, her Grandmaster.
She turned and sat on the main seat, then waved to Wang Ding.
“Sit.”
Wang Ding bowed. “Thank you, Lord.”
He presented a jade slip to Bao Gu.
“This is the list of casualties from the Archaic Mountain Range and the tokens of thanks offered.”
That Lord had survived Ba’s assault only because the cultivators present had staked their lives to shield her. Of the Kan Gang’s Shadow Pavilion, over three hundred spies were present at the time; only one thousand-guard commander named Jing Xiu had made it back alive.
Powerhouses from various factions at the Void Tearing stage—more than twenty of them—had fallen. The total number of Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation cultivators who perished exceeded fourteen hundred. A small portion were rogue cultivators; even more belonged to various large factions. They had died to save the Lord. The Kan Gang owed them an immeasurable debt.
Bao Gu read the casualty list, and her heart was heavy with emotion.
The cultivation world now was different from the cultivation world of the past—at least, people were willing to sacrifice themselves for others, for the greater good, for righteousness. She had never imagined that a single moment of impulsiveness on her part would cost so many their lives.
For Yu Mi’s sake, she could disregard her own life. But to so many people in the cultivation world, her life had actually been worth them staking their own to protect.
Wang Ding returned to his seat and said, “Lord, news of Ba’s calamity has already spread. Many factions wish to meet with you. I’ve temporarily arranged for them to stay in Baoyue City. Should I have them come here for an audience?”
Bao Gu said, “Before we have the strength to contend with Ba, what good will meeting them do?”
Wang Ding hesitated. “As for Senior Demon Saint…”
Bao Gu said, “If Saint Aunt were able to deal with Ba, how could I have ended up this badly injured?
“In years past, the cultivation world burned through all of the Earth Immortals of that era. With help from upper-realm demon immortals, they used the Ascension Platform’s Nine-Dragon Ascension Formation and the price of erasing all immortals from this world to suppress Ba.
“The Ba of today is no longer the Ba of those years. Back then, she wanted to build a city of corpses and use endless death qi to breed new life. Now she has already stepped past that stage and will only be even harder to deal with than before.
“There are no immortals in this world anymore, no demon immortals descending from the Upper Realm to help, and no Nine-Dragon Ascension Formation. The bitter fruit sown by the cultivation world must be swallowed by the cultivation world itself.”
Her voice was soft and calm, but the sorrow and desolation beneath could not be hidden.
Everyone present fell silent.
Wang Ding asked, “Then in Lord’s view, what should we do now?”
Bao Gu said, “The grand formation in Qingzhou might be able to hold Ba back. I don’t want to repeat myself with the same old warnings. Whoever doesn’t believe the Archaic Mountain Range is lethally dangerous and insists on courting death can go throw their lives away on their own. I can’t save people who are determined to die.”
After she finished, she rose and walked straight out.
Wang Ding shot to his feet.
“Lord!”
That was far too willful—was she planning to wash her hands of all this?
Zi Tianjun frowned and called out, “Bao Gu.”
Bao Gu turned and looked at him.
“Grandmaster, if my senior sister dies, I will not live alone.”
The thought of Yu Mi in danger made her chest feel painfully tight. She could not understand why these cultivators, knowing there was a great horror and Ba’s calamity in the Archaic Mountain Range, still insisted on going. Because things looked calm on the surface, they wanted to gamble on their luck? Or were they going there to seek opportunities?
Bao Gu didn’t know. She truly didn’t.
She didn’t even know why Yu Mi had insisted on taking that risk. Had Yu Mi ever thought of her when she decided to take that gamble? Yu Mi had gone into the Archaic Mountain Range without even telling her, without leaving a single word. Was it because she believed the defensive treasure from Master’s wife would surely keep her safe? Did she want to walk the path of a strong one and defeat Ba like Ling’er?
Ling’er was of the Upper Realm Celestial Fox royal bloodline. Her background was so great even Ba was unwilling to provoke her. But Yu Mi? What did Yu Mi have that could compare to Ling’er?
Zi Tianjun knew Bao Gu was blaming him for sending Yu Mi on this expedition. But in these last few months, cultivators going in and out of the Archaic Mountain Range were as numerous as cattle. Who could have guessed that others would be fine, and only Yu Mi would have an accident?
Yu Mi had Ling’er and the Duobao Spirit Monkey at her side, and she carried a critical defensive treasure from the Ancestral Grandmaster. He had believed that was enough to guarantee her safety. He had never expected things to blow up like this.
Wang Ding chased out of the hall and cut Bao Gu off, blocking her path. He clasped his fists and bowed.
“Lord, I will immediately dispatch people to search the Archaic Mountain Range for the Arrow Envoy’s whereabouts. No matter the cost, we will bring her back.”
Bao Gu’s chest ached fiercely. Hearing his words, she merely said, “Don’t. Don’t let more people die for nothing. Is one life less of a life than another? No one’s life is inherently more precious than anyone else’s.”
After speaking, she took out a teleportation platform, inscribed the coordinates for the demon domain, and stepped into it without hesitation.
Zi Tianjun’s brows knit tighter, his face gloomy as ink.
Wang Ding’s expression was also grave. He looked toward Zi Tianjun.
“Master Zi, this…”
Zi Tianjun let out a long, heavy sigh, helplessness clear in his eyes.
“Once your Lord gets entangled in something involving Yu Mi, she goes insane.”
Wang Ding agreed with that in his heart, but as a subordinate, he didn’t dare echo it aloud. What he truly worried about was what their Lord might do next.
An energy fluctuation swept through the hall. Ling’er and the Duobao Spirit Monkey appeared out of nowhere in front of them, making Wang Ding jump.
“How did you get in?” he blurted, staring in shock from the monkey to the fox girl as if they were ghosts.
Ling’er asked anxiously, “I heard Ba dug out Bao Gu’s heart—is that true? Where is she?”
Wang Ding said, “The Lord just left. You two… how did you bypass the defensive formations to get in here?”
Qingzhou was warded by a powerful grand formation personally laid by the Lord. All right, maybe the Lord had given the Celestial Fox young mistress and the Duobao Spirit Monkey the array diagram. But the Left Envoy’s residence had its own array as well. How had this fox and this monkey slipped in without tripping anything?
Ling’er asked, “Where did she go? Is she all right?”
Wang Ding said, “Hard to say. The Lord is worried sick about the Arrow Envoy. Who knows what she might do now? You two, just how did you make it past the formations?”
Ling’er jabbed a thumb at the Duobao Spirit Monkey.
“Dumb-Dumb. There isn’t a formation in this world that can stop him.”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey chittered once, scratched his head, and stared wide-eyed at Ling’er, as if asking what they should do now.
Ling’er turned to look at Zi Tianjun and Wang Ding.
“Where did Bao Gu go?”
Zi Tianjun said, “Bao Gu just left. She didn’t say where, but she’s surely looking for a way to rescue Yu Mi. In my view, the most likely place she’s gone is the demon domain.”
In this entire world, the only one who might have a way to snatch Yu Mi from Ba’s hands was in the demon domain.
He was still wavering, unsure whether he should inform Zi Yunshu and the Demon Saint. With their temperaments, if they learned Yu Mi had fallen into Ba’s hands, they would never sit still.
Ba had captured Yu Mi precisely to lure out the Demon Saint. Once the Demon Saint emerged, wouldn’t that be throwing both her and Shu’er into the fire?
Bao Gu had not gone to seek out the Demon Saint. Clearly, she wasn’t only trying to protect them. She also knew that even if she managed to invite them out, it might not help matters. Zi Tianjun believed the treasure bestowed by the Ancestral Grandmaster would keep Yu Mi alive. But as long as Yu Mi was in Ba’s hands, Bao Gu would never be at ease, and she would never just sit by and watch her senior sister remain a prisoner.
Ling’er had no idea what Zi Tianjun was thinking. The moment she heard that Bao Gu might have gone to the demon domain, her face went white.
Wang Ding noticed something off.
“Young Mistress Ling’er, what is it? Is there some problem?”
Ling’er didn’t answer him. She bit her lip, hesitated for a heartbeat, then made up her mind.
“Little Monkey, we’re going back.”
At those words, the Duobao Spirit Monkey shot up like his tail was on fire, landed on the courtyard wall, and shook his head so hard it looked like a rattle. He pointed at Ling’er with his claw, chittering frantically.
Ling’er’s face hardened.
“Are you going back or not?”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey kept shaking his head.
“Then I’ll go back alone,” Ling’er said.
The monkey nodded.
Ling’er snapped, “Are you even my friend?”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey nodded again.
“Then come back with me to look for Bao Gu. We share blessings and share hardship, understand?”
The monkey still shook his head and even covered his face with his paws.
Ling’er said, “It was me and Sister Yu Mi who insisted on going into the Archaic Mountain Range. It’s not your fault you couldn’t stop us. Auntie won’t punish you for that.
“Dumb-Dumb, you know that once Bao Gu gets dragged into anything involving Sister Yu Mi, she loses all sense. If we don’t catch up to her, aren’t you worried she’ll get herself killed? She doesn’t care if she lives or dies!”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey hesitated, lips pursed, his monkey face full of reluctance. At last he nodded. He pulled out a teleportation platform, tossed it to the ground, then hopped up onto it and waved Ling’er over.
Ling’er stepped onto the teleportation platform with him, and the two of them hurriedly vanished.
Wang Ding’s scalp tingled. He hastily waved the Kan Gang members out of the hall, then cupped his fists to Zi Tianjun.
“Sect Master, will the Lord… take another risk…?”
Zi Tianjun’s gaze was dark.
“Bao Gu will definitely return to the Archaic Mountain Range to look for Yu Mi.”
He cupped his fists to Wang Ding.
“Left Envoy Wang, you have always been resourceful. Please think of some way. When it comes to Yu Mi, Bao Gu doesn’t even care about her own life. She will certainly go up against Ba again.”
Wang Ding’s heart felt like it was sinking into a bottomless well.
That’s the Lord. Even you, her Grandmaster, can’t stop her—how am I supposed to? And as for Ba—that’s a being a thousand times more terrifying than the Lord.
Zi Tianjun’s expression was grim.
“If it involves Yu Mi, even if Bao Gu knows she’s going to die, she will still go.”
Wang Ding was so startled he almost cried out.
“Master Zi—if you know that, how could you still let the Arrow Envoy go risk herself in the Archaic Mountain Range?”
Zi Tianjun let out a low sigh.
“Yu Mi carried an Upper Realm immortal treasure for protection and had the Duobao Spirit Monkey and Ling’er with her. So many people went in and out of there without incident. Who could have imagined she would be the one to run into Ba?”
Wang Ding couldn’t help giving him a sideways look. If he hadn’t been concerned that Zi Tianjun was the Lord’s Grandmaster, he really would have said:
That’s Ba’s territory. Anyone who goes there might run into her. If you cannot afford to lose the Arrow Envoy, you shouldn’t have sent her at all. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, you still shouldn’t have sent her.
Wang Ding didn’t know if Xuantian Sect could afford to lose Bao Gu, but he knew the Kan Gang absolutely could not afford to lose their Lord. If the Lord met with disaster, the Kan Gang’s future was finished.
He, a mere mid-stage Soul Transformation cultivator, could not possibly prop up the Kan Gang or keep his position as Left Envoy without the Lord supporting him from behind. Whether for the Lord’s great kindness to him, or for the sake of his own future, he could not allow anything to happen to her.
Wang Ding cupped his fists.
“Rest assured, Master Zi. I will do everything in my power, at any cost, to ensure the Lord’s safety. I’ll take my leave.”
He hurried away to summon the hall masters of the Kan Gang and begin making arrangements.
Zi Tianjun did not delay either. He returned to Xuantian Sect to arrange for people and warships to head to the Archaic Mountain Range.
Bao Gu did not know the precise location of the Demon Saint’s holy city in the demon domain where Xueqing lived. Still, she believed that once she reached demon territory, she could get information by asking any demon cultivator. If that failed, she still had a message jade slip that could contact Xueqing.
Half a day later, Bao Gu entered demon territory.
She stopped several demon cultivators in succession to ask for directions to the demon capital. Every one of them clamped their jaws shut. When she tried to search their souls, they immediately chose to self-detonate and die with her rather than let her probe their memories.
The demon cultivators’ stance was clear—they would rather die than reveal the location of the holy city to a human cultivator.
Bao Gu naturally could not truly kill them. They had done nothing to her; she was the one intruding into demon lands as a human cultivator. She thought, There has to be at least one demon who will talk. They can’t all be this stubborn.
She headed deeper and deeper into the demon domain, stopping every demon cultivator of decent strength she came across to ask. With her level of cultivation, catching them was easy. But none of them would speak.
In the end, it was Ling’er and the Duobao Spirit Monkey who found her.
Ling’er gave Bao Gu a long, complicated look.
“I’ll take you to the holy city to see Aunt. But Aunt absolutely will not interfere in the affairs of the cultivation world. She won’t meddle in anything involving Ba.”
Bao Gu said, “I know. I only want to rescue Yu Mi. No matter what, I can’t just leave her in Ba’s hands.”
Ling’er led Bao Gu straight to the demon holy city.
Bao Gu never saw what the demon holy city itself looked like. Stepping off the teleportation formation, she found herself standing in the courtyard she had built for Xueqing back in the Cloudsea Forest.
The moment she landed, she felt a gaze from inside the house fall upon her. A heartbeat later, Xueqing’s startled voice came from within.
“Bao Gu? What are you doing here?”
Bao Gu’s eyes reddened.
“Master’s wife…”
She bowed deeply with clasped fists.
Xueqing stepped out of the house, clad in a luxurious fox-fur cloak. The fur was pure white, without the slightest blemish, shimmering with a faint divine radiance under the sunlight. Framing Xueqing’s peerless face, it made her look like a goddess descended from the heavens. Everything else in the world paled beside her, as though she did not belong to this realm at all.
Xueqing stopped in front of Bao Gu, leaned in close, and smiled slightly.
“Why are your eyes red? Who bullied you?”
With a thud, Bao Gu dropped to her knees.
“Master’s wife, I have a request.”
Ling’er also knelt.
“Ling’er begs Aunt to pardon me.”
Xueqing looked down at the two kneeling juniors.
“What is going on?”
Bao Gu bowed her head to the floor.
“My senior sister was taken by Ba in the Archaic Mountain Range. I know Master’s wife gave her a protective treasure. With that treasure, you must be able to sense her whereabouts. I beg Master’s wife to tell me where she is.”
“The Archaic Mountain Range?” Xueqing’s brows knit.
“As far as I know, you retreated far away to Qingzhou and used Five-Element Immortal Stones to set up a grand formation to keep Ba out. Why, then, did you go running to the Archaic Mountain Range?”
Her gaze shifted and fell on Ling’er.
“Was this your doing?”
Ling’er muttered, “I just wanted to see what the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter looks like. I didn’t think Sister Yu Mi would be the one who got dragged in.”
“Utter nonsense!” Xueqing snapped.
Heavenly Emperor’s daughter?
Bao Gu froze.
“What’s going on? Wasn’t it Ba? Why is it suddenly the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter?”
Xueqing said angrily, “Ba’s previous life was the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter of the Upper Realm. The demon race’s supreme is called the Demon Emperor; the human race’s supreme is called the Heavenly Emperor.
“In ancient times, the human race fell into chaos and the Heavenly Emperor perished. His daughter fled into this realm through a broken world gate, but still could not escape her pursuers and died here, body and soul annihilated.
“She was the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter, had cultivated an immortal golden body—her flesh was indestructible. Her body was sealed at the moment of death. After the cultivators from the Upper Realm who hunted her down left, news of the incident spread. Some in the cultivation world, deluded by the thought of seizing great fortune and obtaining upper-realm treasures, sought out her sealed body and broke the seal.
“She was an imperial daughter who carried the mandate of heaven. When such a one dies, omens are bound to appear. The first time, those omens were hidden because of the treasure shielding the heavenly secrets. But once the seal was broken, the vision appeared and heavenly thunder descended, striking her body.
“Within that thunder, her so-called immortal golden body seized a sliver of life. Through a series of coincidences, it transformed into Ba and birthed a new consciousness.
“The Heavenly Emperor’s daughter’s soul was utterly scattered. The consciousness born as Ba retained none of her memories. All that remained was the unvented resentment of her unjust death and an endless unwillingness to die.
“Ba brought a catastrophe to this realm. Some cultivators who ascended to the Upper Realm brought word of her to the heavens, and so a Golden Immortal descended to deal with her. But a Golden Immortal descending must still be constrained by this world’s heavenly laws—their cultivation falls. In the end, that Golden Immortal instead fell victim to Ba.
“The Upper Realm was so troubled over her that they even considered sealing this world off entirely. Because this world held descendants of the demon domain, the demon domain was unwilling to abandon its people here, and so they sent demon immortals down to seal Ba. No one anticipated that the demons of this world would suffer a man-made disaster instead—lost their path of ascension to the Upper Realm and declined to the brink of extinction.”
She let out a cold laugh.
“You went to the Archaic Mountain Range to provoke Ba? Do you think you have the strength of a Da Luo Golden Immortal?”
At her peak, Xueqing herself had only reached the Golden Immortal realm, far below Da Luo. Ba wore the body of a Da Luo Golden Immortal and had become Ba on top of that. Even a Da Luo Golden Immortal might not survive a clash with her—yet these little brats had dared to go stir her up. What was that, if not courting death?
Ling’er lifted her head to look at Xueqing.
“Aunt, Sister Yu Mi was taken by Ba. Ba seems to be looking for the Demon Saint. Please think of something. Ling’er knows she was wrong.”
Xueqing shot Ling’er a furious glare and then turned to sit down on a nearby jade stool.
She looked at Bao Gu.
“Ba’s temperament cannot be judged by common sense. Her strength is something this world simply cannot afford to provoke.
“Whether Yu Mi lives or dies now will depend entirely on her own fortune.”
Bao Gu felt her heart plunge into an icy abyss.
Xueqing drew a slow breath.
“So Ba is looking for Xiaolian?”
Bao Gu said, “Yes. Ba captured my senior sister because she sensed Saint Aunt’s aura on her. I once used a defensive treasure forged for me by Saint Aunt to release her aura and lure Ba over.”
Xueqing said, “If you don’t want Xiaolian to die a miserable death, then don’t let Ba find her. Get up.”
Bao Gu stood, head bowed. Her chest felt like it was on fire, yet she had no idea what to do. She knew that, given the current situation, the best option was not to act rashly.
But her senior sister…
Xueqing let out a quiet sigh.
“Your master, at his peak, did have the combat strength to deal with Ba.”
She rose and walked back toward the house.
“The demon domain does not harbor people of the cultivation world. Ling’er, see Bao Gu out. After you send her back, go to the Snowfield Ice Cavern and meditate in seclusion for three years.”
Only after she stepped into the house did she add, “Dumb-Dumb, either go with Bao Gu or go into the Ice Cavern with Ling’er.”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey gave a sharp chitter and landed firmly on Bao Gu’s shoulder, arms wrapping around her neck. He hunched his shoulders, looking pitifully at Ling’er.
In a daze, Bao Gu followed Ling’er onto the teleportation platform. Ling’er sent her all the way back to the mountain gate of Xuantian Sect in the Canglong Mountain Range.
Head bowed with guilt, Ling’er said softly, “Bao Gu, I’m sorry.”
“You’re not the one who owes me an apology,” Bao Gu said.
Then she walked straight up the mountain road leading into Xuantian Sect.
The disciples guarding the gate stepped forward to question them.
Ling’er showed a Xuantian Sect token to prove her identity.
Bao Gu took out her own Xuantian Sect identity token and hung it at her waist. She was angry with Yu Mi, resentful toward Yu Mi—but she still wanted to contact her.
She pulled out the voice-transmission jade slip linked to Yu Mi and poured spiritual power into it. As before, it was like casting a stone into the sea—no response at all.
Bao Gu wanted to crush the jade slip in her hand, but she couldn’t bear to destroy the only treasure that could still connect her to Yu Mi. She clutched the jade slip tightly. Tears, utterly disobedient, welled up in her eyes, more and more, until they spilled over and slid down her cheeks in a string of beads.
She wanted to save Yu Mi.
But what way did she have to save Yu Mi?
Her Ancestral Patriarch, at his peak, had battle strength at the level of a war king of the Upper Realm.
